Two Performance-Related Bills Sent to President

Two pieces of legislation have passed Congress and will likely be signed by the President soon. The first, the Federal Agency Performance Act of 2024, embeds a current administrative best practice into law – agency annual strategic reviews. The second, the Government Service Delivery Improvement Act, requires OMB to designate a governmentwide lead official and each agency designate a lead official to improve service delivery, and adopts the framework of High Impact Service Providers into law.

Dept of Govt Efficiency – What About Government Performance?

NextGov (Steve Kelman)

There is absolutely nothing in the Musk-Ramaswamy pronouncements about making the government more efficient by causing it to work better. . . But we need to understand that an important constituency for better government performance is actually among civil servants themselves. 

What Is the Effect of Merit Selection and Bureaucratic Autonomy on Governmental Performance?

Public Administration Review (Sergio Fernandez, Faisal Cheema)

This study analyzes the impact of merit-based appointments and bureaucratic autonomy on service delivery effectiveness, using longitudinal data from a panel of African countries. It finds that appointing bureaucrats based on merit improves governmental performance, even when public institutions and bureaucracies are weak.

Advancing Local Governance: A Systematic Review of Performance Management Systems

Cogent Business & Management Journal (Open Access)

This study analyzes key trends in performance management systems through a systematic literature review of 122 studies published between 2000 and 2023. Regional analysis results reveal varying trends worldwide.